I LOVE MY FAMILY!

OK, Brian had the day off and it was WONDERFUL!!!

He is so thoughtful! I got to sleep in while he took care of the kids. He then went and got donuts. He actually made breakfast for the kids BEFORE the doughnuts. Then we had doughnuts and then lunch (which he again made).

When I woke up, AA gave me a gift she had made herself, finished about a week ago. It was a doll. A fabric doll. I will HAVE to post a picture here because I am so unbelievably proud of her! It was all done by hand. And when "Daddy didn't get [her] the buttons on time for the face, [she] just drew one." OH it is a BEAUTIFUL doll!

We headed out to run a few errands. I got some wooden knitting needles for the kids (normally $7.99 for $1.51!!!) which we are having a learn to knit party at our house Friday next week. In the research I have done, it says that thick wooden needles are the best for kids. These are meant especially for kids (bright colors and thick and has a big bulb at the end to prevent the yarn from slipping off). I am REALLY excited about this because EE is VERY anxious to start doing knitting. She wanted to learn crochet, but she is left handed and I just cannot do it (being VERY right handed).

I also picked up some glasses for AA's doll. She had to get glasses a month or so ago. I wanted doll glasses for her doll at the time because she was VERY anxious about having to wear glasses. Because of her astigmatism, she will have to wear them all the time and for life. I got them today (finally) and plan to surprise her with them tomorrow. which turns out to be PERFECT (see below for why).

After that we headed to a local family fun place (pizza buffet and arcade). I did not expect to be there for SO LONG, but we were there for almost 5 hours! I got in free (because it was my birthday), and because we were all in costume, we all got free $5 cards for the arcade (even little JJ!). We sat down for the coloring contest and colored pictures (which we didn't finish because the kids were hungry), so we got our salad (yes, we ALL eat a GOOD salad first). After salad we got our pizza. Then there was a science project! YEP! We all made SLIME! It was GREAT!!!

Then off for games. JJ LOVES to play skee-ball. He played a spinning game ONCE and won 50 tickets on the first try! It was so great to see him grab hand over hand as the tickets poured out from the machine! MM played the same spin game and the first time won 10 tickets. The second time she landed on the big prize - 200 tickets! It was AWESOME!!! All of us played other little games, winning tickets.

Then off to redeem SOME tickets (we allow the children to only get ONE prize per visit) and then back to the buffet for dessert. Then finish the coloring pages, and off for Daddy to try ONE MORE TIME to win me a portable Playstation. GOTTA love my man!!

After we got home, Brian went to put the girls to bed while I put JJ down and then headed off to put up my foot (I broke my little toe earlier this week).

Brian comes into the room and says that AA commented that "today felt too much like Halloween and we didn't celebrate Mommy's birthday, so can we celebrate her birthday tomorrow?" OH MY PRECIOUS PRECIOUS SWEETHEART AA!!

And so it is late late late. I am so happy and so blessed! I head off to sweet slumber and awaken to TWO MORE DAYS with my beloved off work!! TWO MORE FULL DAYS to spend together enjoying each other as a family. I am so blessed!!!

The Alternative To Wikipedia

I am sure most of you know that Wikipedia is NOT a reliable source. You can learn all about twhy by just googling it. But basically, anyone can put information on the page.

I was listening last night to an Australian comedian. He was flying into the US, and when the inspections heard who he was, they did not believe him. So they had him sit down and looked up his information on Wikipedia! The comedian said that it FALSELY states on Wikipedia that he is related to David Hasselhof. So if the guy asks him a question, is he supposed to tell the truth (no I am not related to him) and risk jail OR is he supposed to lie (and say he is related to him)?

Well a DEAR DEAR friend of mine talked about an alternative on her blog (yes, I am WAY behind in reading my blogs, bad Paula!)

Conservapedia.

VERY professionally done and it looks really good. While I do not think I would accept it as a reference on a book report (I would DEFINITELY not accept Wikipedia), I do think it is a MUCH better alternative to find information fast, without it being distorted to fit a worldview. It would have a Biblical view. I would STILL want to check facts because there are some people who would twist Scripture to fit their agenda too. But I would search there with my kids to find answers to their questions.

Come What May

This movie is free online until Oct 31. It really is a MUST SEE!
BEFORE YOU VOTE ON NOVEMBER 4th WATCH THIS MOVIE!

Can Roe vs. Wade be overturned? Maybe, maybe not. Lawyers argue it out...
Come What May

Current Web Readings

Learning How To Set The Table
What an adorable and heroic story, perfect for little girls AND boys, about how to remember where to put your knife and fork.

Library Resources For Young Ladies
Good list of books!

Make Your Own Dryer Balls
OK. I love Monica! I wish she were my sister! I will settle for her being a friend. :) And I just LOVE her blog. Normally, when I find a link to something I like, I put the link here with a HT to the source I found the link on, but Monica's blog is just so beautiful, and this post is no different! I LOVE her ideas and her pictures. And how CUTE she wrapped them up as gifts for Christmas. Thank you for sharing Monica!

Cabin Fever and Your Kids
GReat indoor fun things to do with your kids when it is too cold to go outside. :)

Paying Off Debt
Another GREAT post! This is more than just about paying off debt, but changing the way you think about money, wants and needs.

Cornstarch Goo
A tutorial for how to make cornstarch goo and the fun for kids!

Reading

We have been reading the book The Five Little Peppers And How They Grew. The girls (and I must admit I too) have really enjoyed it. We are on the last few pages which will be read later today during reading time. I have written before about how mature this book is in the vocabulary and sentence structure. It is not written like anything any public schooled child would read today. And it has been a WONDERFUL time of questions (and learning) as the girls ask what certain words mean, why things are done a certain way, and of course, trying to understand the sentence structure! :)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE old books! Especially old children's books. They have great vocabularies, are not dumbed down, and usually contain great morals and virtues to be learned. It is sad that more and more of these types of books are being burned (simply because that is what they do with old books). If the book is a great classic (like Heidi or Pollyanna or Little Women), then it is made "modern" by dumbing it down and taking away some of the rich vocabulary as well as morals and virtues within. One book we recently read had changed the witch in Hansel and Gretel into a repentant witch who has then good to all the little children.

What I love most about reading to the children is the bonding that happens between us. Yes, it is fun and exciting now that I have one full time on her own reader (who can read most anything and is finishing up the Old English abridged version of Pilgrim's Progress with FULL comprehension) and I have one part time reader (who can read books like The Cow Who Clucked - her FAVORITE and other children's books as she continues through her reading lessons). But they still beg Momma to "please wait to read, I have to get something first!" They still LOVE to listen to Momma read. And what a great time of bonding!! We are able to transport together to "the little brown house" and watch as Polly helps her Mamsie with the mending (what responsibility!). And then months later to be able to say "Do you remember when Polly did ...."

Daddy reads to the girls most ever evening. There are nights when he works late, but even then, he always tries to take off to at least read to the girls. And now JJ has taken his place beside Daddy, with the biggest of grins, as he too bonds with Daddy as he reads of the Millers and the responsibility needed for the young boy to get a rabbit.

I would not trade that time of bonding with the children for anything!

My children's future

SNL skit which is hard to find now:
http://msunderestimated.com/SNLBailoutSkit.wmv

I have never really been a very politically active person, but I have had a huge wake up call.

With the scary socialist comments from Obama (yes, the things Obama are saying could be quotes from Karl Marx), as well as his belief on foreign policy (International Law is a SCARY thing people and will strip your parental rights no matter how good your state law is concerning homeschooling or other parental rights, International Law supersedes the state law - what AMERICAN would WANT such a thing?!). Whether you home school or not, if you Are a parent, you NEED to know more about how your parental rights WILL be stripped if International Law is accepted in America.

Americans have been greedy and put themselves in this state (see the SNL link above, even liberalists admit it!), yet they look to government to bail them out. And when the government says no, they look to vote someone in who will. Obama accepts the socialist "spread the wealth" belief. Someone who will give them their fair share just because they deserve it. Not because they have worked hard for it.

So why all this? And why now?

Well, Brian and I have made some financial mistakes in the past. This caused us to go deeply into debt when our son JJ ended up in the hospital. We could have taken an easy way out. But we didn't. We worked hard, changed our ways, and are working to get out of debt, build up an ER fund, and provide for our children's futures. We don't want them making the same mistakes we did.

But now, everything is changing. The hard work we have put towards all of this is for not now that the bailout has passed. The value of the dollar is depreciating at a very fast rate. American money has basically become worthless as the government is just printing more and more money. My family is being punished for doing things the right way, while those who would rather take a handout are being rewarded for their greed.

I worry for my children. What kind of future they will have? Saving a dollar for them now that could be worthless in the future, not to mention taken away from them...

I have felt convicted to fight for my children and their futures. While I have been doing that on a spiritual level by praying for their salvation and moral character and future spouses, and on a physical level by praying for their health, and just last year we started on a monetary level by starting to teach them properly about money and saving money for them. I feel that I need to do it on a political level as well.

Praying for a leader who will have my child's interest at heart. Telling others when there is someone who is running for office who DOESN'T have a child's best interest at heart. Telling others when there is someone running for office who does not believe in AMERICA, but in accepting and indoctrinating the law of other countries (even ones - Socialist ones - that America fought against for so long).

I leave with an email I got form my beloved:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/why_obamas_socialism_matters_1.html

Interesting comments - mostly people angry about the blog exposing Obama (who they can't seem to see any wrong with).
Here's one of the ones that points out clearly Obama's harmful policies:
IF YOU BELIEVE….

…A baby who survives a botched abortion deserves to die because it was the original intent of the mother. (Obama voted this way THREE DIFFERENT TIMES!)

…Having the money you have worked hard for should be taken away from you and given to those who did not work for it. (Socialism not American)

…American schools should teach curriculum based on the policies of the UN and not the USA.

…American troops should be called back and come home in defeat.

…That the people who made millions of dollars while bankrupting the companies they ran should make economic policies for America.

…That terrorists should be given grants to teach our children

…Raising taxes on the people who provide jobs and services is the right way to stimulate the economy.

…That we should not be energy dependant and that you will be able to pay for a brand new vehicle because gasoline will no longer available in 10 years.

…We should all give up our 401k’s and pay the government to guarantee our retirement pension.

…We should surrender our firearms.

…we should allow agencies such as Acorn to help define the direction that America will take in the next several years.

If you believe these things then you should vote for Obama.

Some People Are So Brainwashed

While I am not a fan of Howard Stern, when Voddie Bauchman puts a video on his blog, you watch it (video below):

Herbal Chicken Stock

Well, I did it!! After talking about chicken tortilla soup, I had to do it!

So here is what I did.

We roasted the chicken (a la Alton Brown).

We took everything he had us cut out (minus all the guts, I just could not bring myself to do anything with them at this time - I hope to get over my fear of the innards soon as I know I want to waste as little as possible), plus all the bones (which my husband lovingly took all the meat off for us to eat that night) and the drippings from the pan.

We then added carrot chunks, celery chunks (with leaves), onion chunks (with skin). Then we followed a recipe for Healthy Herbal Chicken Stock which will help us fight off colds and flu this winter season. They call it a tonic. :)

We have the CD Training Our Daughters To Be Keepers At Home (TOD-KAH). I have created a section for teaching on Herbs and this recipe is going right in there. I have also changed the books we will be using to teach her as I do not have the Sue Gregg books, nor do I want to get them. I have PLENTY of other books just as good that we will be using instead. PLUS, they will be getting hands on training in most of that now and while they are young. :)

The stock simmered all night long! Then in the morning, I made the condensed cream of chicken soup and used some to make the chicken tortilla soup for lunch and froze the rest of the herbal chicken stock and cream of chicken soup. Which is 8 cups of stock (which honestly is about two soups worth for our family), and about 3 cans worth of the cream of chicken soup.

Which brings me to a question. How do you freeze liquids without using plastic? Everything out there I read said to use freezer bags. I am hoping to move away from those. (Although with the success of using cereal bags around the freezer bags I am really happy and liking the ease of freezer bags, especially for things like frozen veggies.) But with soups I would really like to use something NON-plastic. Can I use canning jars? Anyone with any advice?

Current Web Readings

Kids Gardening
GREAT newsletter and site with great ideas for kids and gardening.

Chica and Jo
If you LOVE crafts and tips you will love this site. I need to stop reading past issues and just DO some of this AWESOME stuff!

Paper Weaving Tutorial
Who knew weaved paper could be so pretty!

How Would Jesus Teach
An awesome post on how to use the example of Jesus in our homeschoolin

Every Day Learning LInks
for the young and old alike. This is a GREAT list of links!!!

Buddying
OK, so the first part of this post kinda grossed me out (I cannot stand broken bones EEK!), and I almost skipped over the post. BUT I AM SO GLAD I DIDN'T!! This post is amazing! I LOVE how God uses our children to teach us!!

Crayon Tinting Your Embroidery
OH MY GOODNESS WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!! HT: Whip Up

Showing Growth
Oh the idea of this little girl in 16 years makes me want to cry (happy beautiful tears of course). What a WONDERFUL way to capture the memory of your little girl growing up.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Found a recipe for Six Can Chicken Tortilla Soup from stockpiling. It looks REALLY good and easy to make. We are about 95% vegetarian. But every once in a while when you find a yummo recipe, you just gotta have you some chicken tortilla soup!

I also found a recipe for Homemade Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup.

This would be a GREAT recipe for the littles to try! Especially since everything is in cans. It would also be a good camping/vacation recipe because everything is canned. But we will prolly do this from scratch at home. :) And keep it in mind for when we are camping/vacationing.